Body-attachable steam pack cover

ABSTRACT

A steam pack cover adapted to contain a contoured neck steam pack and adapted to be secured about the neck of a user for applying localized moist heat thereto for therapeutic treatment purposes, includes an elongated envelope composed of fabric material for enclosing the neck steam pack, a long strap of fabric material secured at one of the end portions of the envelope and bearing a long strip of female velcro material for interlocking with a short strip of male velcro material secured to the opposite end portion of the envelope to hold the envelope in place about the neck of the wearer, and a short strip of female velcro material overlying one side of a short flap and adapted to be interlocked with the short strip on the male velcro material for protecting the male velcro material from damaging the fabric material of the envelope when the cover is not secured about the neck of a user, whereby when in use the cover is readily adjustable to fit different size users by securing the short male velcro member to any one of various different desired positions along the female member.

United States Patent [191 Winther BODY-ATTACHABLE STEAM PACK COVER [76] Inventor: Thorkil Winther, 5512 Brainard,

Countryside, II]. 60525 [22] Filed: Mar. 5, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 338,032

Primary Examiner-Lawrence W. Trapp Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bernard L. Kleinke; Leon ard .I Kalinowski [4 June 11, 1974 [5 7] ABSTRACT A steam pack cover adapted to contain a contoured neck steam pack and adapted to be secured about the neck of a user for applying localized moist heat thereto for therapeutic treatment purposes, includes an elongated envelope composed of fabric material for enclosing the neck steam pack, a long strap of fabric material secured at one of the end portions of the envelope and bearing a long strip of female velcro material for interlocking with a short strip of male velcro material secured to the opposite end portion of the envelope to hold the envelope in place about the neck of the wearer, and a short strip of female velcro material overlying one side of a short flap and adapted to be interlocked with the short strip on the male velcro material for protecting the male velcro material from damaging the fabric material of the envelope when the cover is not secured about the neck of a user, whereby when in use the cover is readily adjustable to fit different size users by securing the short male velcro member to any one of various different desired positions along the female member.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures BODY-ATTACHABLE STEAM PACK COVER The present invention relates to a body-attachable steam pack cover, and it more particularly relates to a fabric cover for a steam pack used as a compress for applying localized moist heat to a portion of the human body, such as the neck of a user for therapeutic treatment purposes.

Heated countoured neck steam packs have been enclosed within fabric covers for insulation and protective purposes and are adapted to be wrapped about the neck of a person requiring localized moist heat treatment. The neck pack cover has been secured in place about the neck of the wearerby means of a pair of straps releasably connected together by means of a.

metal buckle. Such a device has not been entirely satisfactory for some applications in that the neck pack cover could not be readily adjusted by the user while in place about the users neck to provide for comfort, since the large bulky neck pack does not permit the user to readily manipulate the buckle and the user is unable to observe readily the buckle and strap in an unobstructed manner when in place about the neck. Moreover, after the neck pack cover is used, it is oftentimes placed in a clothes washing machine and thena dryer for cleaning purposes, and in so doing, the metal buckle frequently causes damage to the fabric cover and to the washing and drying machines, while making undesirable noises therewithin. Also, while in use, the buckle tends to wear out the strap, thereby necessitating repair or replacement thereof. In order to eliminate the buckle, Velcro fastening devices were-employed on neck pack covers, but such arrangements were unsatisfactory for some applications in that the prickly male portions of the Velcro members damaged the fabric material of the covers by snagging them during washing and drying and at other times. Since it is highly desirable to have a neck pack cover which is readily adjustable in place by the user to facilitate his comfort while in use for long periods of time, various different fastening devices have been proposed for neck pack covers, such as providing a number of spaced-apart snap fastening devices on the strap which could be readily felt by the fingers of the user, but such snap fastening arrangements are not practical in such an application since the wearer must press them together against the throat to attach the snap devices. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a contoured neck steam pack cover which is readily adjustable in size about the neck of the user and can be adjusted in place by the user in a convenient and efficient manner, and which employsa means of securing the cover about the neck of the user without causing unnecessary and unwanted make other undesirable noises inside of a clothes washer or dryer, nor damage them.

Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved contoured neck steam pack cover, which is readily adjustable by the user while the cover is in place about the user's neck, and which includes a mean's'of securing the cover about the users neck without causing undue and unnecessary wear of the cover or its straps and without causing undesirable rattling or other noises while being cleaned in washing and drying machines or causing damage to such machines.

wear of the cover or its straps and does not rattle or Briefly, the above and further objects of the present invention are realized by providing a new and improved body-attachable steam pack cover, which includes an elongated envelope composed of fabric material for containing the steam pack, such as a contoured neck steam pack, a strap of fabric material secured at one of its end portions to the envelope to extend therefrom, a long member of female Velcro material secured to the strap, a short member of male Velcro material secured to the envelope and adapted to interlock with the female Velcro material for securing the envelope in place in an adjustable manner on the body of the user, and a short member of female Velcro material secured to said envelope and adapted to be interlocked with the short member of male Velcro material to protect it from inadvertantly damaging the envelope or other objects when the short member of prickly male Velcro material is not interlocked with the long member of female Velcro material. As a result, when not in use, the cover of the present invention can be stored conveniently in a flat condition in a stack of similar covers without damaging their fabric material, since the short protective flap is secured in place overlying the prickly male Velcro material. Moreover, due to the construction of the cover of the present invention, the cover can be cleaned in washing and drying machines without causing unwanted noise therein and damage to the machines or the cover, since the Velcro material is flexible material which is light in weight. I

The above and further objects will best be understood by reference to the accompanying description and the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a body-attachable steam pack cover of the present invention containing a contoured neck steam pack and secured about the neck of a user; i

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cover of FIG. 1 taken substantially along the line 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partly-broken away plan view of the empty cover of FIG. 1 opened out to a flat condition with the long strap and the protective flap shown bent backwardly for illustration purposes;

FIG. 4is an enlarged plan view of the cover of FIG. 1 andis similar to the view of FIG. 3 but-shows the protective flap in place and the long strap resting in a flat position; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the cover of FIG. 3 taken substantially along the line 5-5 thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is shown a bodyattachable steam pack cover 10, which is constructed inaccordance with the present invention, and which is adapted to enclose a contoured similarly-shaped neck steam pack 12 (FIG. 2) therewithin so that the steam pack 12 may be held in place about the neck of a user 13 toapply moist heat thereto for treatment purposes. While a neck pack cover is shown and described, it should be understood that other types of bodyattachable steam pack covers may also be employed in accordance with the present invention for use with other areas of the body, such as a cover (not shown) adapted to encircle a limb. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cover 10 generally includes a fabric envelope 15 having as shown in FIG. 5 a longitudinally-extending pocket 19 for receiving and containing, if desired, a sheet of insulating material, such as the foam plastic sheet 20 (FIG. 2) to provide greater insulation between the steam pack 12 and the user. The strip 22 of fabric material secured to the outside face of the envelope 1S opposite the pocket 17 has a free end strap portion 24 which extends loosely from the envelope 15, the strap 24 bearing a long member 26 (FIG. 3) of female Velcro material thereon which is adapted to mate with a short member 28 of male Velcro material secured to the envelope l5 opposite the pocket 17 in line with and spaced from the strip 22 at the opposite end portion of the envelope 15, the fastening device including the female member 26 and the male member 28 being sold under the trademark VELCRO. A shorter free end flap portion 31 of the strip 22 extends therefrom adjacent the male Velcro member 28 to swing toward and away from it and carries a short female Velcro member 33 thereon as-shown in FIG. 3 so that when the cover l0 is not in use, the flap 31 may be moved over the male Velcro member 28 and the female member 33 may be interlocked therewith for protective purposes as shown in FIG. 4. In use, the neck steam pack 12 is heated and then slipped into the pocket 17 and if desired, the insulating sheet 20 is inserted within the pocket 19.:Thereafter, the envelope 15 is folded over longitudinally as indicated in FIG. 2 so that the cover and its contents may be wrapped about the neck of the user l3'as shown in FIG. 1. In order to secure the cover 10 in place by the user or an attendant, the protective flap 31 is first released from the male Velcro member 28, and then the female Velcro member 26 of the'strap 24 is pressed into engagement with the male member 28 to interlock them at the front of the user to secure the end portions ofthe envelope together. Since the female Velcro member 26 is of a substantial length, the male member 28 can interlock therewith at a number of different positions along the female member 26 to make the cover 10 adjustable in size for fitting different size users. Moreover, the user can readily adjust the position of'the female member 26 relative to the male member 28 to either tighten or loosen the cover 10 about his neck by merely pulling the female member. 26 loose from the male member and then lightly pressing them together at a different desired po- 'Company of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the envelope 15 is elongated in shape having an enlarged central region, which when folded over longitudinally forms a peak portion for overlying the back portion of the neck of the wearer. The envelope 15 includes an outer sheet 37 of fabric material, and a pair of complementary-shaped inner sheets 39 and 40 composed of fabric material arranged in overlying confronting relationship with the outer sheet 37, the sheet 39 being sewn along its peripheral edge to the sheet 37 along the line 42 and the sheet 40 being sewn along its peripheral edge to the sheet 37 along the line 44. The sheet 39 is the same size and shape as the upper half of the outer sheet 37, and similarly the sheet 40 is the same size and shape as the lower half of the sheet 37 so that when they are positioned side by side longitudinally, together they are the same size and shape as the outer sheet 37. Theenvelope 15 may be composed of any suitable fabric material, such as terry cloth material, and each one of the sheets forming the envelope 15 may either be a single thickness as shown in the drawings or multiple layers of fabric sheets.

The strip 22 is sewn to the upper half of the backing sheet 37 along the lines 46 and 48 at the peripheral edges thereof and along the lines 51 and 53 t0 define the fixed end portions of the respective strap 24 and flap 31. As shown in FIG. 4, the long female Velcro member 26 is sewn to the strap 24 at its end portions along the lines 55 and 57, and the end portions of the protective female member 33 are sewn to the strap 31 along the lines 59 and 60. As shown in FIG. 3, the male Velcro member 28 is sewn to the backing sheet 37 along the lines 62 and 64.

In accordance with the present invention, the size of the protective female Velcro member 33 is substantially the same as the size of the male Velcro member 28 so that when in place, the member 33 interlocks with the male member 28 and the protective flap 31 covers the entire male Velcro member 28. In order to facilitate detaching the flap 31 from the male Velcro member 28, in accordance with the present invention the female Velcro member 33 is spaced along the flap 31 from the line 53 so that when the flap 31 is pulled free of the member 28 the Velcro member 33 is completely free from the male member 28 and hangs freely from the sheet 37 as shown in FIG. 1, whereby the long female Velcro member 26 can be readily and easily attached to the male member 28 without the flap 31 interfering therewith. Also, since the flap 3l-is attached to the envelope 15, the flap 31 is always readily available to cover the male member 28. The Velcro member 33 is also spaced from the free end edge of the flap 31 to serve as a finger-hold portion to be grasped between the thumb and first finger of the user to manipulate the flap into and away from interlocking engagement with the male Velcro member 28.

While the present invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment thereof, it will be understood that many changes and modifications of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope thereof. Accordingly, the appended claims are im tended to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scopeof the present invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A body-attachable steam pack cover adapted to contain a steam pack and adapted to be secured to the body of a wearer for applying moist heat thereto, com-- prising: I

an elongated envelope composed of fabric material for containing the steam pack; a long member of female soft matted material extending from one end portion of said envelope;

I a short member of male prickly stiff material secured terial is not interlocked with said long member of female material.

2. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 1, a flap of fabric material secured at one of its ends to said envelope for swinging into and out of overlying relationship with said short member of male Velcro material, said short member of female Velcro material being fixed to one face of said flap.

3. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 2, further including securing means fixedly connecting said short member of female material to said flap in a position spaced from the secured end of said flap so that said short member of female material can be pulled completely out of interlocking engagement with said short member of male Velcro material.

4. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 3, wherein said short member of female material is spaced from the free end portion of said flap.

5. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 4, further including a long strap of fabric material having one of its ends secured to said envelope, said long member of female material being fixed to one face of said strap.

6. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 5, wherein said envelope includes a pair of first and second pockets, said first pocket being adapted to contain said steam pack.

7. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 6, wherein said steam pack is a contoured neck steam pack, said first pocket of said envelope being of a similar shape as the shape of said contoured neck steam pack.

8. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 7, wherein said long member of female soft matted material, said short member of male prickly stiff material, and said short member of female soft matted material includes Velcro material. 

1. A body-attachable steam pack cover adapted to contain a steam pack and adapted to be secured to the body of a wearer for applying moist heat thereto, comprising: an elongated envelope composed of fabric material for containing the steam pack; a long member of female soft matted material extending from one end portion of said envelope; a short member of male prickly stiff material secured to the opposite end portion of said envelope and adapted to interlock with said long member at different portions therealong for adjustment purposes when said envelope is positioned about a portion of the body of the user; and a short member of female soft matted material extending from said envelope and adapted to be interlocked with said short member of male material in overlying relationship therewith for protective purposes when said short member of said male material is not interlocked with said long member of female material.
 2. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 1, a flap of fabric material secured at one of its ends to said envelope for swinging into and out of overlying relationship with said short member of male Velcro material, said short member of female Velcro material being fixed to one face of said flap.
 3. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 2, further including securing means fixedly connecting said short member of female material to said flap in a position spaced from the secured end of said flap so that said short member of female material can be pulled completely out of interlocking engagement with said short member of male Velcro material.
 4. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 3, wherein said short member of female material is spaced from the free end portion of said flap.
 5. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 4, further including a long strap of fabric material having one of its ends secured to said envelope, said long member of female material being fixed to one face of said strap.
 6. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 5, wherein said envelope includes a pair of first and second pockets, said first pocket being adapted to contain said steam pack.
 7. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 6, wherein said steam pack is a contoured neck steam pack, said first pocket of said envelope being of a similar shape as the shape of said contoured neck steam pack.
 8. A body-attachable steam pack cover according to claim 7, wherein said long member of female soft matted material, said short member of male prickly stiff material, and said short member of female soft matted material includes Velcro material. 